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Darren Fletcher admits Manchester United face an ‘uphill battle’ against Basel to progress as group winners in Champions League
A 2-2 draw with Benfica on Tuesday means that the Red Devils will need "a favour" to win Group C, with a testing away match in Switzerland to decide their qualification fate
24 Nov 2011 08:59:00
By George Ankers
Getty Images
Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher admits that his side face an “uphill battle” to reach the last 16 of the Champions League after Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Benfica.
The Red Devils are currently top of Group C, level on points with the Portuguese outfit and needing a point away to Basel on December 7 to qualify, but their inferior head-to-head record means that if Benfica defeat Otelul Galati, so far without a point, in their final match, the Premier League side will have to settle for second place at best.
“This game [against Benfica] was a chance to win the group, but it’s going to be an uphill battle to do that now,” Fletcher admitted to The Daily Mirror.
“We’ll go to Basel needing a positive result, which we probably would have needed to do anyway if we had won [on Tuesday], so it’s no different in that respect.
“But you want to have won the group and you want to have qualified in advance of your last game.
“We’ve had two draws at home, the Basel game and Benfica, which have cost us.
“But there’s no point us moaning or saying what could have been. This is the situation we’re in, and we’ve got to respond and get the right result in Basel.
“In the last few years, we’ve won the group and we moved into the next round quite comfortably. But this is what’s lying ahead of us now and we’ve got to accept the challenge and the situation we are in.
“We’ll do that as a team and I’m fully confident we’ll go to Basel and get the result which will take us into the next round.”
United will be wary of the Swiss champions after they nearly caused an upset at Old Trafford.
Having been two goals behind in September’s meeting, Basel turned the game around to 3-2 before Ashley Young spared Sir Alex Ferguson’s blushes with a late equaliser.
“Going away from home in the Champions League is a big challenge,” Fletcher conceded.
“Basel play good, open, attacking, expansive football and create chances, so we know it’s going to be a difficult match. But we’re confident of going there and getting a result, like in every match.”
Finishing second would open United up to drawing the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Inter in the last 16, all of whom have already won their groups, but the Scotland international is unfazed by the prospect.
“Of course, it’s not ideal that we might have to face those [big] sides earlier than we would anticipate, but I can’t imagine any of those sides being too pleased to draw Manchester United.
“We’re confident no matter whom we play against, and if we get to the next round, we’ll rise to that challenge.
“We need to get the fine balance of not conceding and getting back to the attacking play we showed at the beginning of the season.
“There are always high standards at Manchester United. After every result, we look back on it - at what we could have done better and how we can improve as a team.
“I don’t think the season has been a disaster so far. We’re still in a relatively good position.”
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The Red Devils are currently top of Group C, level on points with the Portuguese outfit and needing a point away to Basel on December 7 to qualify, but their inferior head-to-head record means that if Benfica defeat Otelul Galati, so far without a point, in their final match, the Premier League side will have to settle for second place at best.
“This game [against Benfica] was a chance to win the group, but it’s going to be an uphill battle to do that now,” Fletcher admitted to The Daily Mirror.
“We’ll go to Basel needing a positive result, which we probably would have needed to do anyway if we had won [on Tuesday], so it’s no different in that respect.
“But you want to have won the group and you want to have qualified in advance of your last game.
“We’ve had two draws at home, the Basel game and Benfica, which have cost us.
“But there’s no point us moaning or saying what could have been. This is the situation we’re in, and we’ve got to respond and get the right result in Basel.
“In the last few years, we’ve won the group and we moved into the next round quite comfortably. But this is what’s lying ahead of us now and we’ve got to accept the challenge and the situation we are in.
“We’ll do that as a team and I’m fully confident we’ll go to Basel and get the result which will take us into the next round.”
United will be wary of the Swiss champions after they nearly caused an upset at Old Trafford.
Having been two goals behind in September’s meeting, Basel turned the game around to 3-2 before Ashley Young spared Sir Alex Ferguson’s blushes with a late equaliser.
“Going away from home in the Champions League is a big challenge,” Fletcher conceded.
“Basel play good, open, attacking, expansive football and create chances, so we know it’s going to be a difficult match. But we’re confident of going there and getting a result, like in every match.”
Finishing second would open United up to drawing the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Inter in the last 16, all of whom have already won their groups, but the Scotland international is unfazed by the prospect.
“Of course, it’s not ideal that we might have to face those [big] sides earlier than we would anticipate, but I can’t imagine any of those sides being too pleased to draw Manchester United.
“We’re confident no matter whom we play against, and if we get to the next round, we’ll rise to that challenge.
“We need to get the fine balance of not conceding and getting back to the attacking play we showed at the beginning of the season.
“There are always high standards at Manchester United. After every result, we look back on it - at what we could have done better and how we can improve as a team.
“I don’t think the season has been a disaster so far. We’re still in a relatively good position.”
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